What happened this Month 100 years ago - the run up to war" ?

[centurion]

Excellent.

Funny to think that within twelve months the world view of Serbia can change from outrage at ethnic cleansing at their hands to 'poor Serbia' being a clarion call for the Allies!

Thanks, as ever, Cent.

James

Yes - although the great powers were split with Russia refusing to sanction any action against Serbia, Germany and the KuK wanting some form of intervention Britain and France suggesting yet another conference and Italy trying to be on both sides at the same time.

[redbarchetta]

LOL - T'was ever thus...

[centurion]

January 1914

Naval Affairs

• KuK Battleship SMS Szent István launched
  
• HMS Royal Oak laid down
  
• HMS Royal Sovereign laid down
  
• SMS Bayern laid down
  
• French Battleship Bearne laid down (later converted into aircraft carrier)
  

No more battleships will be laid down until after WW1 – the battleship race is over.

• HMA Submarine AE1 finally handed over by contractors after fitting out
  
• HM Submarine A7 lost with all hands in Whitesand bay.
  
• Arctic Expedition Ship HMCS Karluk is crushed in the pack ice and her crew faced with 100 mile walk to safety
  
• Lt.Col. Konstantin Kirkov, head of the artillery of the Varna fortified point during the Balkan Wars, is appointed to command the Bulgarian Fleet.
  
• IJN adopts the rising sun masthead pennant
  

[centurion]

January 1914

In the Air

• RNAS officially comes into existence
  
• Royal Navy assumes control of all airship development – army airships and balloons handed over.
  
• Short S.38. No.28. is fitted with "Automatic bomb-dropping gear" at Eastchurch
  
• Short S.38 No.66. carries out experiments with Vickers and .45 Maxim machineguns.
  
• No 6 squadron RFC is formed at Farnborough
  
• Chinese Army Air Arm officially formed
  
• South African Defence Headquarters purchases the Paterson Aviation Syndicate School including the aircraft and all spares, but the Farman biplane is never put to any use and will be found in a dilapidated condition years later in a Cape Town Drill Hall.
  
• 1st military flight in NZ finally made after a propeller is found for the Bleriot delivered the previous year. The location chosen for the flights is the Epsom Showgrounds in Auckland.
  
• First US Navy squadron consisting of six qualified pilots, 23 enlisted men, seven seaplanes, some spare parts and a few canvas hangars arrives at Pensacola Naval Aeronautic Station
  
• Gustave Delage joins the Nieuport company as chief engineer
  

[centurion]

January 1914

On the ground

• Greek premier Venizelos meets British Foreign Secretary Grey in London and broaches the idea of an entente between Greece and England to preserve the status quo in the Mediterranean. Grey considers the idea premature and declines to avoid offending the susceptibilities of the other Great Powers. This will cause Britain significant problems during the war.
  
• Otto Liman von Sander reappointed (demoted to) Inspector General Turkish Army after Russian protests over his original appointment
  
• The British Army ask Leonard Woolley and T E Lawrence to conduct a military survey of the Negev Desert in southern Palestine.
  
• Defeated by Pancho Villa the Mexican Army crosses the border into Texas and surrenders to US troops. They are interned in Fort Bliss, Texas and Fort Wingate, New Mexico
  
• The US Regular army begins a draw down from the Philippines
  
• Austrian authorities track down Adolf Hitler, sleeping rough, and he is escorted by the Bavarian Criminal police to the Austrian Consul in Munich in whose presence he is made to write a lengthy apology for his failure to comply with earlier KuK call-up orders.
  

[BPJermyn]

As usual Centurion fine work !!

Is there anyone who would be able to add comments on the political climate of Europe was in 1914 before the onset of the Great War?

[sneakyimp]

As usual Centurion fine work !!

Is there anyone who would be able to add comments on the political climate of Europe was in 1914 before the onset of the Great War?

There is a twitter account, OldGreyHorror that provides links to daily news items exactly 100 years ago that might provide some context. Most of the articles are from the NYTimes, so it's not Euro-centric, but it has provided some insight into the Balkan problems, the Saverne affair in Alsace-Lorraine, and tensions between Russia and Germany over the provision of military training to Turkey. Most of the recent articles cover the Mexican Revolution.

[anthony osborne]

Centurian,

many thanks - again!

Kind regards,

Ant

[centurion]

I was surprised at how little there was on Jan 1914 however I did find a comment from Siegfried Sassoon that month saying "January is very quiet this year" !

[David_Underdown]

As pointed out in a couple of other places on the forum, the Telegraph are now offering the equivalent 1914 edition of the paper as a pdf download (20-45mb) each day (no Sunday Telegraph then it would appear!). See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/. Daily reports from the court martial over the Saverne affair, the marriage of a Mitford son in Berlin, the retirement of Joseph Chamberlain.

[sneakyimp]

The spectator also has an archive:

http://archive.spectator.co.uk/issues?year=1914#allIssues

However, it's all the news so there's nothing to distill the WW1-related bits out of it.

[David_Underdown]

Radio 3 is also looking at the cultural situation in the main European capitals around the start of 1914, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/radio3/posts/WW1-Music-on-the-Brink-Highlights for more information.

[b3rn]

I put together a little app to search Australian newspapers for mentions of war and empire, one hundred years ago, today:

http://throughtheselines.com.au/war-herald

You can subscribe to get the headlines emailed to you each day. The page refreshes after midnight, Australian Eastern time.

Full articles can be read on Trove, the National Library of Australia's newspaper archive.

[centurion]

February 1914

Naval Affairs

• German Battleship SMS Kronprinz is launched
• American Battleship USS Texas completes last tests prior to commissioning. These include buoyancy tests to ensure that her counter flooding works and she could survive a torpedo strike.
• The Putilov Shipyard submits plans to the Russian navy for super battleships armed with 12 16 inch guns The guns are to be housed in three four gun turrets. These are intended to give Russia naval superiority in the Baltic. The German Blohm und Voss shipyard is a co bidder for the work.
• The Royal Navy’s First Battle Cruiser Squadron ‘shows the flag’ visiting the French port of Brest then goes on to Vigo followed by Pontevedrain in Spain before carrying out exercises in the Atlantic.
• RAN submarines AE 1 and AE2 are commissioned and prepare for the long voyage to Australia
• Royal Australian Naval College established at Geelong, moves to Jervis Bay
• President Wilson agrees to start ice patrols in the N Atlantic on behalf of the international community
• Russian Navy commissions ice breakers to rescue exploration vessel trapped in the Arctic pack.
• Laforey-class destroyer HMS Lance is launched. On 5th August 1914 she will fire the first British shot of WW1

[centurion]

February 1914

In the Air

• The Pescara-Guidoni PP, an Italian twin engined monoplane fitted with hydrofoil floats, makes the world’s first torpedo drop off Venice. It can launch a 827lb torpedo
  
• Sikorsky Ilya Muromets four engined heavy bomber flies. Over 80 will see service in WW1
  
• In Argentina a Morane Saulnier aircraft powered by a 80 CV supercharged engine, flown by Teodore Fels reaches an altitude of 6225 meters, exceeding the world record by 75 meters.
  
• The first Bristol Baby flies - this will become better known as the Bristol Scout
  
• The first FE2a two seat fighter flies
  
• First Sopwith Gun Carrier hydro-biplane Type GPH is delivered to the RNAS
  
• 3 Squadron, RNAS, is formed at Eastchurch
  
• RNAS Stannergate opens and its first aircraft a Borel monoplane sea plane arrives
  
• Turkish military pilots attempt to fly from Constantinople to Cairo. They get as far as Damascus but crash when attempting to fly the next stage.
  
• Escola Brasileira de Aviação (Brazilian Aviation School) is created to train military pilots
  

[centurion]

February 1914

On the Ground

• The Great Powers confirm the sovereignty of Greece over the islands of the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly the islands of Limnos, Samothrace, Mytilene, Chios, Samos and Ikaria but not the islands of Imros, Tenedos and the Rabbit islands,
  
• The Russian Deputy Minister of the Interior and former head of police sends a memo to the Tsar warning him that a war against Germany - even if Russia won - would destroy the monarchy.
  
• Chairman Kokovtsev the only member of the Russian Council of Ministers to speak against a war is dismissed
  
• The Serbian Prime Minister Pasic meets with the Tsar in St. Petersburg, and is told “For Serbia, we shall do everything.” A Russian “blank cheque” is issued.
  
• Prince Wilherlm of Weid accepts the crown of Albania (“with reluctance”)
  
• Having had him dragged back to Vienna the KuK authorities turn down Adolf Hitler for military service due to a lack of fitness.
  
• The first edition of ‘The Irish Volunteer’ is published
  

[Old Tom]

Fascinating insights, many thanks.

Old Tom

[Nickmetcalfe]

I don't comment every time I read this - just thought I'd say keep up the great work.

Nick

[centurion]

March 1914

Naval Affairs

• Battleship USS Arizona is laid down by Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt.
  
• Battleship USS Oklahoma is launched
  
• Battleship HJMS Fuso is launched. Her superstructure is the tallest in the world.
  
• Battleship USS Texas is commissioned. First American battleship to have dedicated anti-aircraft guns
  
• Battleship HMS Iron Duke is commissioned. First British battleship to have dedicated anti-aircraft guns
  
• Dutch government asks eleven dockyards to produce designs for Dreadnoughts
  
• RAN submarines AE 1 & 2 set sail for Australia
  
• Churchill presents his naval budget of £48,000,000 to Parliament
  
• 102,000,000 additional roubles are approved by the Russian Duma for the Black Sea Fleet. This is intended to make the fleet capable of carrying out an amphibious operation to seize Constantinople and the Dardanelles. Work will not be completed in time for WW1
  

[centurion]

March 1914

In the Air

• At Point Cook Lieutenant Eric Harrison and an aviation instructor from the Central Flying School make the first military flight in Australia in a Bristol Boxkite. Later the same day Lieutenant. Henry Petre, flying a Deperdussin registers Australia’s first military flying accident when he crashes after snaring his tailplane in telephone wires.
  
• The Royal Siamese Aeronautical service is renamed and the Royal Siamese Flying Corps founded
  
• Herbert Smith joins the Sopwith Aviation Company as a draughtsman. Later in 1914 he will become Sopwith's chief engineer and will later be responsible for the design of the Pup, Triplane, Camel, and Snipe fighters.
  
• The RNAS orders a large rigid airship from Vickers
  
• Julius Arigi transfers from an artillery regiment to the KuK’s flying service. He will become its second highest scoring air ace.
  
• KuK pilots demonstrate the first aircraft parachute flare whilst over Berlin
  
• Russia takes delivery of a batch of Curtiss F flying boats with an improved planing hull
  
• Friedrich Christiansen receives Pilot’s License No. 707 after learning to fly in a Gotha-Hansa Taube. He will become Germany’s leading sea plane ace.
  
• The Supermarine P.B.I is displayed at the Aero Show Olympia – this is the first Supermarine flying boat
  
• Archibald Low successfully demonstrates what he calls TeleVista, an early version of television, for use in a guided flying bomb
  

[centurion]

March 1914

On the Ground

• The Curragh “Mutiny” begins when British officers indicate that they will not take part in any operations against Ulster Unionist forces
  
• 8,000 Kurds armed and supported by Russia revolt and seize the city of Bitlis in SE Turkey (near the border with Persia.).
  
• Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf the Chief of Staff for the KuK sends a memo to the Emperor Franz Joseph advising on the necessity pf military action against Rumania which he describes as a "faithless ally"
  
• General Nikolai Yanushkevich is appointed as Chief of Staff to the Russian army
  
• Prince Wilhelm of Wied the agreed future King of Albania moves into his new palace
  
• Major Edgar Reynolds, is officially appointed General Staff Officer in charge of a branch covering "intelligence, censorship, and aviation" within the Australian Army's Department of Military Operations. This will eventually become the Australian Flying Corps
  
• General Sir Reginald Hart, V.C., K.C.B., K.C.V.O., unveils the obelisk to the 24th foot at Isandhlwana
  
• Erwin Rommel is temporarily posted to Ulm to command a section of 77mm Feldkannone
  
• In Britain the QF 3-in 20-cwt. Anti-aircraft Gun is introduced for both land and sea service.
  
• The French army trials the Chatillon-Panhard 4x4 heavy artillery tractor and orders 50
  
• Regimental Band Master (2nd Battalion Argyll and Sutherland), Warrant Officer class 1 Fredrick Joseph Ricketts composes the Colonel Bogey March, the central motif is based on a phrase whistled by a colonel he was playing golf with. It will be published under the pseudonym of Kenneth J. Alford becoming an instant success.
  

[Ghazala]

This is great stuff. Thank you Robert.

[centurion]

April 1914

Naval Affairs

• The American super Dreadnought USS New York is commissioned.
  
• United Republic of Paraguay and Uruguay’s 12 inch gun Dreadnought "President Francesco Solano Lopez" is completed in a British yard.
  
• Russian Dreadnought Imperator Aleksandr III is launched. She is intended to reinforce the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea for an operation to occupy Constantinople and to take the Dardanelles (including Gallipoli).
  
• The paymaster and crew of a whaleboat from USS Dolphin are arrested by Mexican authorities at Tampico. Although these men are released with an oral apology by the Mexican commander, the commander of the American fleet, Admiral Mayo, issues an ultimatum requiring the Mexicans to apologize for and formally disavow the arrest, to promise that the officer responsible for the arrest would be punished, and to publicly hoist the American flag and render it a 21-gun salute. The Mexican authorities will only agree if Admiral Mayo returns a gun-for-gun salute to the Mexican flag. This is impossible for Mayo to comply with since the United States does not recognise the current Mexican government.
  
• President Wilson does not issue an order to hold the Mayo and an American battleship task force led by the USS Texas is sent to Vera Cruz “to protect U.S. citizens and rights”. A force of 800 marines and seamen is landed and occupies the port.
  
• SMS Königsberg is recommissioned for the German East Africa station and Captain Max Looff is assigned command
  

[centurion]

April 1914

In the Air

• The seaplane variant of the Sopwith Tabloid, powered by a 100 hp Gnôme Monosoupape engine, wins the Schneider Trophy race at Monaco at an average speed of 86.7 mph
  
• Air detachments from USS Birmingham and USS Mississippi (five flying boats and seven pilots) conduct a series of observation flights over the harbour and Mexican positions at Vera Cruz.
  
• A Curtiss flying boat, crewed by Lts Patrick N. L. Bellinger and R. C. Saufley becomes the first naval aircraft to be hit by gun fire when it is fired on by Mexican gunboats when on a mine patrol over Vera Cruz
  
• The French Navy carries out experiments with an armoured aircraft with a machine gun firing forward over the top of the propeller
  
• Construction of the factory Brandenburgischen Flugzeugwerke GmbH is started in Briest near Brandenburg, with Ernst Heinkel employed as the principal designer (and later as director).
  
• German aircraft manufacturer Albatros Flugzeugweke located in Berlin, establishes a manufacturing company in Wien-Stadlau in Austria. This company becames the second largest supplier of aircraft to the Austro-Hungarian Army and Navy.
  
• Vladimir Alexandrovich Lebedev sets up the Aeronautical Joint-Stock Company of V A Lebedev based close to the Komendantsky airfield.
  
• The Fokker M.5, a pirated copy of a Morane Sauliner and the prototype of the Eindecker, appears
  
• Kingsnorth airship station is completed.
  

[centurion]

April 1914

On the Ground

• Field Marshal French resigns his position on the Imperial General Staff after a disagreement with Prime Minister H. H. Asquith's government regarding the Curragh Mutiny
  
• Churchill proposes a dramatic reorganisation of the War Staff
  
• The Greeks evacuate their forces from South Albania in response to an ultimatum from Vienna
  
• Serbia officially commemorates the 250th anniversary of the 1667 Croat revolt against the Hapsburgs - Austria is not amused
  
• The Chief of the Italian General Staff, Alberto Pollio, who has not been informed of Italy’s treaty obligations offers the Austrians Italian military forces in case of war with Russia and Serbia.
  
• Herr von Flotow the German Ambassador in Rome opens unofficial talks with the Italian government to try to determine their Balkan policy
  
• The German government blocks a Krupp delivery of batteries of coastal artillery to Guatemala for fear of upsetting the USA
  
• The Independent Labour Party's annual conference at Bradford welcomes “the growing international solidarity of the workers as a potent force for peace." Keir Hardie in the same paper focused on the risk of war. "War cannot be made without the consent of the common people. True, their consent is not asked, but if the rulers know that the workers will not fight each other no war will ever be declared. That much is obvious, and a consideration of that fact is an additional argument for the anti-war strike propaganda of the International Socialist Bureau."
  
• German Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg remarks "I am of the persuasion that a European war must come sooner or later,"
  
• Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck is assigned to command in German East Africa
  
• Australian millionaire Samuel McCaughey, known as the king of sheep, bankrolls the UVF This allows Carson's organization to purchase more than 24,000 rifles and three million rounds of ammunition in Germany and successfully land them at at Larne
  
• Revelli applies for patents for the design of the world’s first sub machine gun, and subsequently assigns the patents to the Villar-Perosa company
  
• Ōkuma Shigenobu becomes Japanese PM
  
• In what proves to be the last RU international Test match before the war England achieve a 39-13 victory over France
  
• In soccer Germany draws 4 all with the Netherlands